Trust No One
by Clara Kingsley
Summary: A strange new girl arrives in Gravity Falls, Oregon and falls into a good friendship with the Mystery Twins a little to easily. Could she be the key to unlocking all the mysteries surrounding the town, or involved in the destruction of the entire world? Maybe she's just another tourist just passing through this sleepy town in Oregon. Better find out before the time runs out.
1. The New Arrrival

Chapter 1

The New Arrival

_Who wrote the journals?_

_It was always a question in the back of my mind every second of every day. Who wrote this mysterious book that I'd been keeping in my jacket all summer? Where did they go? What happened to them? Bill said I was on the verge of some answers, yet every time I felt as though I was getting closer to some answers, they slipped away…_

It was just another sleepy, summer day in Gravity Falls, Oregon. The Mystery Shack was normally pretty packed with tours, since their defeat of Gideon. However, today was what could finally be considered a slow day and not just "a normal day". Dipper was behind the cashier desk "watching it", while Wendy was casually sneaking her way to the ladder to the roof. He watched as she pretended to be arranging merchandise, until the second Stan's back was turned and she could sneak up the ladder.

"_Dipper!" _

He let out a scream of shock as his sister, Mabel, appeared beside him. She was clad in a forest green sweater covered in different sizes and shapes of buttons, with the phrase "Cute as a Button" stitched across the center in rainbow colors.

"Stop staring at Wendy. You've got to let her go, bro."

"I wasn't staring at Wendy. I was writing stuff down about that thing over there." He looked down at the notepad and realized he had been writing, _"I'm most definitely not looking at Wendy. I'm pretending to write something, pretending to write something, pretending to write something …"_

"See, Mabel." Dipper added, even though it only weakened his argument.

"Come on, man. You've got to get back out there. You think I just gave up on boys after Bipper caused me to ruin my sock opera designed to impress Gabe, or when my first boyfriend turned out to be a bunch of gnomes in disguise. NO! It's time to rebound!" she yelled, pounding her fists on the desk with enthusiasm. Mabel looked around the vaguely occupied gift shop, until her eyes settled on a target. "What about that cute, honey over there?

Dipper sighed and gazed up at the girl Mabel was pointing at. She looked like Lazy Susan, only more wrinkled and minus the lazy eye.

"Mabel, she's even older than Wendy." Dipper added, wondering what his sister was even thinking by suggesting her.

"If you're looking for someone our age, how about one of my girls? Or maybe Pacifica?" Mabel tried suggesting.

"No. Definitely no, to all those choices," he replied, quickly, mentally shuttering at the thought of dating any of those girls. Candy and Grenda were too much like Mabel, yet managed to have their own quirks that made them even weirder. Then, there was Pacifica, "Why would you even mention Pacifica? Isn't she still your arch nemesis?"

"She's been a bit nicer, since we almost got killed by talking golf balls. I think she just longs for real friendship and love." she reasoned. Dipper couldn't argue that. Ever since the mini golf incident, she'd stopped laughing and whispering about them with her "friends" when they passed her on the streets. When she was alone, she'd acknowledged them with a head shake. However, that wasn't enough for Dipper to be swayed from his hatred.

"The answer is still no. She's a bleach-blonde Barbie, who I still don't like."

"What about her, then?"

Dipper rolled his eyes and looked to yet another unsuspecting Mystery Shack tourist Mabel was pointing at. She looked to be about twelve, her wavy auburn-brown hair hit her shoulders and was wearing a plaid babydoll dress. She was reading out of a book entitled, _"How to Cope with Your Supernatural Paranoia."_ and kept looking back up at the case with the "Why?" monster in it.

"No, Mabel. Look, I'm not interested in finding some summer love like you are, there are bigger things to worry about right now." Dipper stated, firmly. He didn't care about finding some new girl, he cared about finding the journal author. It was about halfway through the summer and he didn't have a clue about who the author was. He had to figure it out before the "big things" Bill was talking about happened.

"Come on, Dipper. I'll go warm her up for ya'."

"Mabel! Don't!"

However, Mabel was already on her way to go talk to her. Dipper shrunk down behind the counter, in case she decided to point him out and further embarrass him. The girl was looking at a postcard off the postcard rack, when Mabel walked up behind her and shouted,

"Hi! I'm Mabel Pines. What's your name, stranger?"

The girl naturally jumped up and let out a small scream, just like Dipper had earlier when Mabel had snuck up on him. Except, she took the postcard rack down with her. She stared at up at Mabel, who was hunched over waiting for her answer, probably wondering if she should give it.

"Abbey McCorkle." she answered, a little uneasily. Mabel offered her a hand up and hoisted her back onto her feet.

"I love your bracelet! It looks like candy!" Mabel shrieked, as she noticed it hanging off her right wrist as she picked her up. It was band of pastel-colored stars in rainbow order.

"Thanks, my best friend made it for me before I left Piedmont." Abbey replied, holding it out for Mabel to have a better look.

"You're from Piedmont. So are me and my brother. We're staying here for the summer cause are parents thought we could use some fresher air," Mabel explained. "What about you?"

"My parents thought my obsession with the _Labyrinth _was getting to dangerous levels, so I'm staying with my aunt Carla for the summer."

"I'm obsessed with the_ Labyrinth _too. Omigod, you're like my soul sister!" she gasped, pulling the girl into a hug. Suddenly, Mabel was dragging the girl in his direction and he ducked back behind the counter, hoping they didn't see him. "Dipper! She's a good one. Come meet her!"

"Ugh, Mabel!"

A good one in Mabel's eyes was Candy and Grenda status, which meant this girl was bound to be yet another wack-job like his sister. Also, the _Labyrinth_. He hated that movie. He groaned and reluctantly stepped out from behind the counter.

"Abbey, meet my brother, Dipper."

"Nice to meet you," Dipper stated, not very sincerely. He originally had no intention of getting to know her. However, further examination of the book in her hands made him wonder about her personality a little more. "That's a strange book your reading for a visit to a supernatural hotspot."

"Well, it says to go to one of these sort of places to see how fake the supernatural really is," Abbey explained. She flipped through the pages, until she found the page she was looking for, "_The supernatural is really made up by money grubbing, con men, trying to sell you crap you don't need._"

"Sounds like grunkle Stan," Dipper added, remembering Stan say pretty much the exact same thing before they found out his knowledge of the supernatural. "But I wouldn't discredit the supernatural so easily. The Mystery Shack maybe some fake tourist trap, but I've seen some things in this town."

"Really? You've actually seen things."

"Yeah, loads of things. This town is full of the supernatural," he added. She was looking up at him with that sparkling interest he got when he discovered something new. Could it be she was really that interested in the mysteries of the town? "I could show you some of my findings, if you want."

He could just show her a few things. Not like the journal or anything super major, for now, but enough to keep her belief in the supernatural alive. Ever since those government agents had shown up, he was actually looking for someone else he could trust and share all of this with. Unfortunately, they got dragged away by zombies. Mabel and Soos weren't always a great help and things between him and Wendy were still pretty raw. He needed someone more like him, someone with that supernatural instinct. Who knows, she might become a strong ally.

"That'd be amazing!" Abbey exclaimed, with a broad smile.

"Sppsh, you don't want to listen to this guy bore your brains out with his nerd talk and crazy conspiracies," Mabel remarked, adding a farting sound effect at the end. Dipper glared at her, but she ignored him. "The girls and I are having a classic sleepover tonight you should totally come."

"Yeah, that sounds great. I love sleepovers." Abbey replied, turning her attention away from Dipper to Mabel.

"Be back here at around six with your wackiest pajama bottoms, ready to dance, magic dance!"

"Alright, I'll see you later then."

"Mabel, how could you do that? She was actually interested in my research on the town," Dipper shouted, once Abbey was gone. For once he had found someone who actually believed him and Mabel had just snatched her away. "I thought you wanted me to rebound."

"That was before I found out she's my soul sister," Mable argued, even though she'd just met the girl like fifteen minutes ago "You can't date my soul sis, Dip. That'd be incest."

"Okay first off, she's not a blood relative of ours, and secondly, I don't want to date her. I just want to talk to her."

"You can some other time! It's girl's night tonight, though. Which means, I better not see you trying to talk with her."

"Mabel—!"

"Dipper, pick up all these postcards! What'd the pig go berserk again?" Stan interjected, from over by the fallen rack.

Dipper groaned and went to go pick them up, while Mabel retreated to the den. This conversation was not over, however, he wasn't about to let Mabel get in his way just because she wanted another weirdo best friend. This girl was more like him then he was her and he planned on drawing out that fact and gaining an ally to help him solve this town's mysteries. He was talking to this girl. Tonight.


	2. Taking Over Midnight

Chapter 2

Taking over Midnight

Mabel was just as persistent to keeping him away from girl's night as he was to crash it. He should have figured she'd put the _Labyrinth_ on in the den to keep him away for at least a good hour and forty-two minutes. He sat secluded in the spare room trying not to hear the terrifying musical numbers and laughs of the goblins. After that it was makeovers and karaoke, two things he'd be forced to partake in if he even showed his face. They had already gotten Soos. Dipper didn't understand why she was going to such great lengths. For the most part, Mabel supported him and had his back on everything. Why was she being like this? He was trying to reach out to someone new.

Dipper decided to give up and just retreat to the spare room for the rest of the night, rather than attempt to go back up to the attic. It was nearing midnight and he could still hear the party raging pretty hard. Figuring he wasn't going to get any sleep anyway through a hardcore mix of BABBA and &NDRA, he ended up copying information from his journal onto a blank piece of paper in the dim lamp light. That way, when he eventually did get to talk to Abbey, he could show her without revealing the journal. He couldn't use the copier, for obvious reasons. Dipper had found the perfect thing to show her that wasn't threatening, yet equally mystical and unreal.

After some major hand cramping, he decided it was a good time for a break and got up to get a Pitt Cola from the fridge. If he wanted to keep at it without grunkle Stan making bag jokes about his eyes again, he'd need it. Dipper went into the kitchen to find someone else already occupying the fridge with the six pack in hand. Abbey was wearing a dark red sweater and Tiger Fist pajama bottoms and was propping the door open with her behind, while she handled the cola.

"So, how's the sleepover going?" Dipper asked, trying to sound casual even though her sudden appearance startled him.

"It's pretty epic. Sadly, I brought some Smile Dip and the girls are going a little nuts right now," Abbey answered. She walked over to Dipper and offered one of the sodas. He accepted and popped it open. "Candy thinks she's David Bowie, Grenda keeps yelling about boys, and Mabel just keeps saying 'Onwards Aoishima'…"

"Where did you even get that stuff? Did you raid that haunted convenience store or something?"

"No, my dad smuggled some back from Japan for me. It's strangely still legal there."

"Wait a minute, did you intentionally drug my sister and her friends with Smile Dip?" he asked, suddenly. Why else would someone bring that sugary poison to a sleepover if she did not have the intent to use it deliberately?

"It wasn't on purpose…" she claimed, gazing off to the side guiltily. Dipper gave her an unconvinced look and she sighed. "Okay, maybe I didn't have any for a reason. It's just that I was really hoping to get a chance to talk to you about the all strange things in this town."

"I'm weirdly okay with this," Dipper stated, with a straight, emotionless expression. It was technically Mabel's fault for actually eating it, she knows very well what that stuff does to her. Also, she was being a real butt to him for the past several hours. He'd help her deal with her crash in the morning, but now he was finally getting to talk with Abbey. "I actually was just figuring out what I wanted to show you."

"Really? Whatever it is, let's go see it!" she exclaimed, immediately. She didn't ask for any clarification, what exactly he had picked. Whatever it was, Abbey was already on board.

"Right now? In the middle of the night?" he questioned. Sure, things like the haunted convenience store and the Summerween Trickster happened at night, but he'd never actually gone looking for something at night before.

"Yeah," Abbey answered, in a 'so-what' kind of attitude, "unless you're too afraid."

"Please, I've accidentally seen my grunkle Stan naked. I have no sense of fear anymore." Dipper replied, like it was no big deal.

"Ha, dude, that's really gross."

"Yeah, the fear thing was a lie. If anything it just made me more terrified and scarred for life."

"Give me five minutes," Abbey stated, running past him for the stairs, "I'm going to get re-packed and hand these sodas off to the girls, so they don't dehydrate."

"Roger that, I'll meet you out front." Dipper answered, heading back for the spare room. He quickly grabbed the paper he'd copied and stuffed his journal to his inner vest pocket, just in case they did encounter something else while they were out there.

He and Abbey met in front of the Mystery Shack exactly five minutes later. She was dressed sensibly for a night excavation. Same dark red sweater, except with jeans and black converse instead of her Tiger Fist pajamas. What had once been her navy sleepover pack was slightly less bulging, yet now had the end of a baseball sticking out of it.

"Is that my baseball bat?" Dipper asked, assuming she probably wouldn't bring her own baseball bat to a party.

"We might need it." Abbey answered, simply.

"Trust me, what we're going to see his the most nonthreatening thing in the forest besides the gnomes."

"It's just a precaution. You never know."

Dipper cracked a small smile. He liked her over thinking. It was how he was usually too, except with things like this, strangely. All he ever seemed to need was the journal and that was enough to keep him alive through everything so far. Thankfully, Abbey had brought all the essential they would probably need. Flashlight, map, compass, etc.

"So, how long have you been into the supernatural anyway?" Dipper asked, in attempt to make conversation as they began walking through the woods.

"For as long as I can remember. My grandfather always used to tell me stories about this town and the things he saw here," Abbey answered, with a small illuminating smile. "You remind me of him a bit."

"Thanks, I guess," he replied, sounding a little weirded out. She was comparing him to a wise old man, which was probably not something you wanted girls comparing you to. Well, it was better than comparing him to a baby or a kitten, like pretty much everyone else in town did. It wasn't a bad place to start. "So, if it's that much a part of who you are, why were you reading that book earlier?"

"My aunt is really against this stuff. I carry it around everywhere and pretend to be reading it to keep up the illusion that I'm trying to get over my obsession," she explained. "It makes sense how much she hates it, considering how bonkers your grunkle and my grandfather were about it. Both of the men in her life obsessed."

"Oh yeah. They used to date like several decades ago. Weird."

"Yeah, she doesn't like to talk about it much. I wonder what happened."

"Didn't she leave him for a hippie or something?"

"That's what she said too, but I feel like there was a different reason, though..." Abbey added. An awkward silence had formed in the realization they were talking about their relatives dating in the middle of the night while they were walking through the woods, "Much needed subject change, what exactly are we looking for?"

"This," Dipper answered, holding out the page for her to see. Abbey held the light up and started to read the neat scrawl of Dipper's handwriting.

"_Along with the incredibly evasive Leprecorn the Gravity Fall's forest is naturally also home to Unicorns, the mythical legendary creatures of unimaginable power. They reside deep in the forest by the crystal pools and to the left of an unnaturally perfect stump. __The Unicorn can be in a range of colours, spanning through dark brown, jet-black, moonlight silver, dazzling gold, although the ones in the forrest are mostly a clan of pure white__. I've—" _

Dipper had gotten up for the soda and hadn't gotten around to copying the rest of the pages, but the short paragraph was enough info to lead them to where the unicorns were. He gazed intently over at Abbey, waiting for her reaction.

"Unicorns? Really, Dipper?" Abbey added, as she finished reading the paragraph. She sounded unimpressed and a little bit skeptic.

"You're seriously about to live every girl's fantasy. Are you literally that unimpressed?" Dipper argued, in retaliation. Apparently, Abbey was less like his sister then he previously thought. Mabel would've flipped out at the chance of seeing a unicorn. He sighed and held out his pinky, "I promise I'll show you a monster on the next trip, alright?"

"Deal." she answered, interlocking her pinky with his. Dipper smiled at the prospect of another trip, something a little more dangerous. This girl was alright.

"Alright, there's the unnaturally perfect stump. It should be just up ahead."

They followed a blue glow to the left of the stump, until they reached a clearing. Sure enough, following true to their name, were several pools of crystal clear water surrounded by crystals popping up from the ground. Meanwhile, drinking from them and wading in them were pure white horses, which were so white they could be seen clearly even in the darkness. They were taller than an average horse and had magnificent mane and of a translucent silver colour.

"Whoa, their magnificent." Abbey whispered, as they were crouched in the bushes. Even though earlier she had been practically scoffing at his suggestion that they go looking for unicorns, she seemed to have a memorized sparkle in her eyes now.

"You sound a lot more impressed now." Dipper smirked, a little smugly.

"Alright, I admit it. I love unicorns. I'm a girl, don't judge me." she admitted, blushing a little. Dipper had started laughing, when suddenly he felt something was nudging at his side. It was one of the unicorns. He was strange compared to the rest, he must've been just a baby. The unicorn was more chubby and well-rounded, rather than graceful and elegant. His hooves, as well as the inside of his ears and snout were a bright pink color.

"Hey, this little guy kind of reminds me of Waddles." Dipper smiled, picking him up and examining. He was about the same size as his sister's pig and had the same dark eyes and stubby legs. Hopefully, Waddles was keeping an eye on the girls. He was starting to get a little worried about them.

He was too distracted thinking about his sister and examining the chubby corn's features to notice an approaching presence behind him.

"Um, Dipper…" Abbey trembled. Dipper knew that tone couldn't been anything good. She was looking behind him with a terrified expression, which could only mean it was another one of those predictable scary movie moments where the monster was looming right behind him. Sure enough, he turned around to see a pitch black shadow with glowing red eyes. "Run!"

They started running into the darkness, trying to comeback the way they came only to realize they hadn't been marking their path as they had gone deeper inside the forest. Dipper didn't hear running after them, he heard galloping, which mean that thing was behind him must've actually been some form of a unicorn.

"I don't understand. They were supposed to be harmless!" Dipper murmured, to himself. He consulted the real journal with his portable black light, to see if he had missed something crucial. The haunting purple scrawl on the page read,

_Harmless by day, deadly by night._

"Why would you add that only in black light?"

"What're you talking about?" Abbey questioned. He didn't realize he had been talking out loud. Abbey couldn't know about the journal despite their lives being in mortal peril, not yet.

"It's nothing. This way." He grabbed her hand and they ducked behind some bushes, while the unicorn ran past. Abbey tossed the flashlight into a nearby tree and the unicorn started circling it, thinking they were hiding up there. Meanwhile, Dipper quickly readdressed the page again for possible weaknesses. After seconds of speed reading, he found it, "Their weakness is their horn!"

Abbey removed the baseball bat and made a running jump at the unicorn's horn. The bat was broken into splinters, not even making as much as a dent or a scratch.

"Great…" she sighed, sarcastically. Abbey tossed her broken half on to the ground. The unicorn whinnied and its horn started to glow that sinister red, as it picked up the two in a sort of tractor beam, "Dipper, I'm sorry I dragged you out here."

"Don't be. I'm sorry I got you involved in something like this." Dipper sighed. It was a mistake to bring someone else into all this mess. It was a mistake to go on a mystery hunt without Mabel and Soos. All of this—

Suddenly, they were dropped onto the cold, slightly damp grass. They saw the unicorn shrieking in agony with it's horn know looking like the broken baseball bat. It fell to the ground to reveal the person who had taken it down. A red head in a bomber hat and green flannel, that Dipper knew all too well, stood poised with an axe resting over her shoulder.

"Wendy!? What're you doing here?"

"I was out with the driving with the guys when I heard a very distinct scream of terror coming from the woods. Figured you needed some help." Wendy replied, in her normal laid back tone. They hadn't realized it but they had run to near the road. Dipper could see the guys pounding on the roof of Thompson's van as they spoke.

"Why do you have an axe?" Abbey asked, obviously not knowing who she was talking too.

"My dad is a lumberjack. I pretty much always have an axe," Wendy answered, simply. Then she gave Abbey a double take, probably realizing that it wasn't Mabel standing beside him for once. "and you are?"

"Abbey McCorkle. I'm staying with my aunt Carla for the summer." Abbey stated, extending her arm for a handshake.

"Yeah, I think your aunt used to babysit me when I was a kid. She let me get away with so much stuff," Wendy remarked, shaking Abbey's outstretched hand. Dipper waited for her to say something more, ask why Abbey was alone with him at like three in the morning in the middle of the forest, "Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Wendy."

"Thanks for the save, Wendy. We would've been toast if it weren't for you."

"It was no sweat. I'm glad you guys are okay," Wendy smiled. The guys were shouting at her to come back to the van, so she turned to leave, "Take it easy, dude. I'll see you in a few hours for work."

"Bye Wendy!" Dipper exclaimed, with the usual frantic wave goodbye he always gave her. She waved back and headed back for the van of over-hyped teenage boys. It was about an hour walk down the road back to the Mystery Shack. They collapsed on the porch, back-to-back, in an exhausted huff at around four wishing they had begged Wendy and the guys for a ride. Suddenly, they felt movement in the space between their backs. There was something rustling around in Abbey's backpack. She set the bag down on the ground and Dipper carefully opened it. The chubby unicorn from the forest rolled out of her pack with an orange cheesy mustache and an empty bag of Doritos.

"Oh my god! He's back for revenge," Dipper yelled, in a panic. He unconsciously shielded Abbey and awaited for attack, but the unicorn just stared up at them with his beady black eyes. He walked past Dipper and licked the side of Abbey's ankle, like a little puppy who was trying to clean his owner's wounds. "Huh, it seems like he's harmless, but the suns not up yet."

"Can I keep him then?" Abbey inquired, squatting down to pet him. "He been following us around since we met him and I'm pretty sure that was his mother we just got killed."

"Did you just ask me if you could keep an all-powerful, mythical creature, which could possibly kill you, for a pet?" he questioned, looking at her like she was crazy. They both looked at him with the same sparkly, puppy dog eyes his sister always gave him when she really wanted something and Dipper caved, "Sure, why not. Knowing the people in this town, they'll just think he's a miniature horse."

"Thank you, Dipper," she smiled. Abbey reached into the outer pocket of her backpack and grabbed some baby wipes to help him with cheese mustache. Then she pulled out a real fuzzy pink, gentlemen's mustache and a bow tie and put them on him, "I am strangely prepared for this."

"Where did you—"

"I brought them for the sleepover. You need a lot of different accessories for the 'Dress up and dance around like morons' portion."

"Well, I'm about to go get like five minutes of sleep." Dipper yawned, beginning to open the screen door.

"Me too. See you in five?"

"Haha, roger that."

While Dipper settled back into the spare room. Abbey quietly crept her way back to the attic. The girls were completely passed out in a litter of empty Smile Dip. Stickers and glitter everywhere.

"Ugh, Abbey? Where have you—"she froze when she saw the new sleepover guest she was carrying in her arms. Mabel barely held back an excited squeal as she squished the chubby corn's cheeks. "Oh my god. Who is this little angel?"

"Mr. Rainbows." Abbey answered, pretty much coming up with the name right spot. She was too tired to think of something more creative and it did really suit him.

"Ah, I just love his mustache and his little bowtie. He and Waddles are going to be the best of friends—"

She collapsed back into a deep slumber, like she had never woken up. Abbey thanked god and ran for her sleeping bag for her five minutes of sleep.

The five twelve year olds all awoke much later, in a groggy daze. After a quick breakfast of pancakes and cereal, Grenda's mom came to pick her and Candy up. Meanwhile, Mabel was chugging down shots of Mabel Juice trying to cleanse the toxins of Smile Dip with plastic dinosaurs, which left Abbey waiting on the porch of the Mystery Shack alone. Another opportunity Dipper didn't dare miss.

"Hey listen, so I know last night was kind of a mortifying, but I've really been in need of a fresh mind trying to help me solve the mysteries in this town," Dipper started, although it was probably not the most natural conversation starter. She smiled and nodded, indicating she was interesting in helping him. "However, I need to know that I can trust and depend on you before I get you more involved into stuff like this."

"I understand," Abbey replied, simply. Her aunt pulled up and honked the horn, looking very aggravated to be here. She looked around wildly, probably keeping an eye out for Stan. "I look forward to proving to you that I can be a trusted ally."

"See ya' later then?"

"Definitely. Mabel already has another sleepover lined up next week."

She waved goodbye as she got in her aunt's car and Dipper got perplexed staring at her as she left. However, it was not for any sentimental reason. He thought he'd seen something crazy. It must've just been a trick of the bright morning light, but for a second her shadow had looked like just a floating triangle…


	3. I Can Help You

Chapter 3

I Can "Help" you.

Of course, the triangular shadow wasn't a mere coincidence. If Dipper hadn't been so sleep deprived from the crazy night, then he might've realized someone else was also had their eyes on Abbey. Or eye, as it so happens…

A week went by, nothing mysterious, no more monster hunts, just a normal week at the Mystery Shack. Abbey frequently came by and talk with him and Mabel. She'd walk in the gift shop, set Mr. Rainbows down to play with Waddles and her self-help book on the counter to rest while they talked. The combined cuteness dot eyed creatures naturally got Mabel out of the way, but Abbey never asked Dipper about the supernatural or gaining his trust. It was like she was afraid that if she mentioned anything Dipper would instantly not trust her. Abbey seemed just as paranoid as he was. So, they merely engaged in normal conversation, before grunkle Stan would notice her freeloading and she was forced to make a hasty exit. Dipper was still hesitant about her for some strange reason, anyway. He didn't know what his deal was. He just could escape the feeling there was something off about her…

"Whatcha' thinking bout, bro-bro?"

Mabel had noticed Dipper staring inadvertently at this guy across the shack who was previously looking at the Stan bobbleheads, but now was looking at him slightly creeped out. Dipper was spacing out, making yet another overly complicated list in his mind to figure out Abbey, while he polished and re-shelved the snow globes.

"Uh—I was just wondering where Abbey was. Weren't you going to take pictures of Waddles and Mr. Rainbows today?" Dipper stammered, hopeful she would read his mind with her twin powers. Abbey hadn't come by at her normal time today.

"Oh yeah. I wonder where she is."

"I'm sure she'll be here eventually..."

While they wondered about Abbey's late arrival, Abbey was busy arguing with her aunt, Carla, after she'd said she was off to the Mystery Shack once again. Carla was blocking Abbey's and Mr. Rainbow's exit from the house with a furious expression.

"I don't want you hanging around that Pine's family anymore. Their bad news." Carla argued, yet gave no prior explanation as to why. Sure, Mabel and Dipper had been seen doing weird things in public before, but it's not like they were dangerous. Her bitterness of the past was obvious.

"But Mabel and Dipper are the only cool people I've met this summer," Abbey argued back. It was not fair that she was forcing her back into a normal boring summer. She had friends, finally, and she wasn't about to just lose them. "Just because you dumped their great uncle doesn't mean I should have to stop hanging out with them."

"I don't have to take that from you. You're grounded, kid," Carla huffed, looking quite appalled. She grabbed her purse and stormed for the door behind her. "I'm late for sewing club. I don't want you so much as taking a step into the backyard!"

With a slam and a lock of the door, Abbey was left alone with the overly dressed up unicorn and utter silence. She laid on the couch debating whether she wanted to defy her aunt and sneak out anyway or just lie there and wallow.

"_What are you going to listen to that witch? Sneak out!"_

Abby shot up off the couch and looked around the room. That had not been her inner conscious talking. The voice had a strange auto tuned sort of pitch and it was like it had come from her mind, but most certainly wasn't her thoughts. Mr. Rainbows leapt suddenly for the sliding glass door to the backyard and she let him out. He strutted around intently and searched around with intensity, like a bloodhound looking for a fox. He could sense it to. Someone was out there. While Mr. Rainbows continued to track, Abbey rushed to the toolshed and grabbed a shovel.

"Whoever you are, you'd better show your face now!" she yelled, into the seemingly empty space, brandishing the shovel like a sword. "I'm getting impatient…"

Mr. Rainbow's horn started to emit an ominous pink glow and within seconds he had entrapped something in it. He leapt to bite it, hold it down until he killed it for his mistress.

Abbey gaped at the vermin he'd caught in his jaws. It was not a creepy burglar or animal of sorts. Mr. Rainbows was chewing on the side of a floating yellow pyramid with thin black arms and legs, that were struggling to rip it's side away from the unicorn's teeth. It also had a bowtie and a top hat for some reason, being as well dressed a magical creature as Mr. Rainbows. It's singular eye beckoned for Abbey's assistance.

"Alright, I've shown myself. Call off your hound!"

It talked. It was the voice that she had heard in her head. Abbey removed Mr. Rainbows and watched as the triangle floated above their reach, as to not get almost eaten again. However, it did not simply float away like an animal freed from a trap, it stayed above them, looking down at them with what Abbey thought looked like a happy expression.

"Well, well. I guess the cats out of the bag," it laughed. Suddenly, removing a cat from his top hat and tossing it at them. Abbey dodged it with a shriek and the cat hissed and ran away. "So, you finally noticed me. Good time, considering that I've been following you for around for about 13 days, 7 hours, 3 minutes and 44 seconds."

"What are you?" she asked the creature, trying to suppress her mixture of fear and curiosity.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I am, Babydoll. Just check your little self-help book." it laughed, cruelly. She glared at it. Him, probably? He'd somehow known just what to say, just the right thing to tick her off.

"What do you want from me, you isosceles monster?" Abbey demanded. He looked insulted for a moment, but it faded quickly

"No need for name calling, sweetheart," he remarked, motioning her to back off a little. She remained in an angry silence, but he went on, "The name is Bill Cipher and I've come to help you."

"Help me?"

"That's right. It's recently come to my knowledge that Pine Tree is thinking about letting you into his group. Apparently Red, Shooting Star and Question Mark just aren't enough for him." Bill explained, casually, as if he hadn't been practically stalking her this whole time.

"And?" There was more to it that he was obviously not telling her.

"And I want to help you get in his inner circle, that's all," he reasoned, with a carefree and easy tone. "Can't a demon do something nice once in a while?"

"I don't need your help with getting Dipper to trust me." Abbey insisted. Bill laughed, like he thought what she had said was some kind of joke.

"Of course, you do. See, you don't know him like I do. The kid does not trust so easily. You saw him in the forest right? He was obviously hiding something from you," Bill added. "This town has made him paranoid beyond repair. He's honestly convinced there is no one he can really trust besides his team."

Abbey thought about it for a moment, actually considering the demon's help. However, even giving it another thought probably meant she had already mentally made the decision.

"What's it going to take?"

"Just a little of my assistance and you'll be off with your new best friend, solving all the mysteries in this town."

"And what do you want for this assistance, Mr. Cipher?" Abbey questioned. She smart enough to know that deals with creatures such as Bill did not usually end well. If she didn't know exactly what was being wagered, he could take everything from her. "Everything comes for a price. What do you want from me? My soul?"

"I don't take souls. I'm not that kind of triangle. What I desire from you is what you desire from Pine Tree. Trust…" he answered, mystically. "All I want is your faith in me, Babydoll."

"You want me to trust you?" she inquired. Was he serious? "Why?"

"I like you. You've got talent and brains, which comes short supply in this hick town," Bill replied. She let out a microscopic smile at the compliments bestowed upon her, but went back to a frown realizing the source was a demonic illuminati triangle. "Not to mention, your family has always been a favorite of mine. Oh, the secrets I could tell you about your own history."

"What secrets? My family doesn't have any secrets."

"Of course, you wouldn't know. They're called secrets for a reason," Bill laughed, cruelly. Abbey didn't know what to think of the possible information he might have. Bill Cipher seemed like an all-knowing being and it was apparent that he might actually know some things about her family's origins. He might've even had information about her grandfather. "Take my offer and you get me and the Pine twins help into discovering those secrets and more. Refuse and I may just tell Pine Tree that secret you're keeping from him."

"Fine. I'll accept your deal." she agreed, finally. What he was offering was just too good to pass up. All he wanted was for her to trust him, become his ally as well, which was not too stiff a price considering all he could have taken from her. If that was all he wanted, he couldn't have been as bad as he seemed. Bill would've probably grinning with delight, if he had a mouth. His eye seemed ecstatic.

"Shake on it?" Bill inquired, holding out his black skinny hand for her to shake. The moment she took his hand, a blue flamed burned over their intertwined fingers. Abbey watched as Bill suddenly began to shrink to the size of a chip and rested himself on her right shoulder. "I could get used to this…"

"Aren't people going to wonder about a strange talking Dorito on my shoulder at all times?" Abbey questioned. Although, people in this town didn't tend to notice odd things for some reason, surely the presence of the ominous yellow glowing triangle would cause some sort of stir. Her aunt was bound to notice… "My aunt is probably going to try and perform another exorcism on me, if she sees you."

"Relax, no one else can see me," he added, dismissively. "Although, I understand the note of concern with people like your aunt. Boy, does that woman live to forget horrid things like me."

"What do you mean? Have you met her before?" Abbey asked, curiously. Perhaps just minutes after forging their deal, he would let something slip about those family secrets.

"Way back in the day, when she was rolling with Stanford Pines. Those two used to cause me a heck of trouble," Bill replied, nonchalantly. He probably wasn't going into any further details, to much of her dismay. However, it did tell her that he actually knew Mr. Pines and her aunt. They had probably actually seen Bill Cipher with their own eyes. She'd have to keep that in mind the next time her aunt Carla lectured her on the supernatural. "But never mind that, now. We were off to the Mystery Shack, right?"

"Right." she replied, completely forgetting her incarceration to the house.

Abbey arrived at the Mystery Shack twenty minutes later, supernatural self-help book in hand and, unknowing to the dim tourist eyes, two supernatural creatures at her side. Dipper was at the register, flipping through a copy of _Gold Chains for Old Men_ magazine, obviously bored out of his mind. She tried to speak up to get his attention, but she had no idea what to say to him under the eye of Bill Cipher.

"What do I say?" Abbey whispered, down at her shoulder.

"This is for own good." Bill stated. His voice held no remorse. In that split confused second, a blue force of energy shoved her copy of _How to Cope with Your Supernatural Paranoia_ onto the floor and the book cover flew off. It revealed something that was not the book. The maroon book hidden within the cover was torn and tattered with age and had spy glass now hanging out of the bottom.

"_Bill!"_

Dipper noticed immediately, however, paid no attention to Abbey shouting the name of his enemy at her own shoulder. Instead he made a rush for the book on the floor. He clutched it tightly to his chest, like he was protecting a newborn baby, and glared at Abbey with pure hatred at what he thought she had done.

"What are you doing with my journal? Did you steal it from me?" Dipper snapped at her.

"Your journal? This is my journal!" Abbey retorted back. Dipper released it from his bear hug, just enough to see a glimmering six-fingered hand with a number four on the front.

"Four…" he whispered, holding it out in disbelief. There was a fourth journal! His mind was racing with thousands of questions. He'd always thought his was the last one. Dipper had always been so focused on finding out the author he never asked the question of whether or not there were other journals out there. There could be like six or seven for all he knew. "Where did you get this?"

"It was in some kind of secret compartment in my basement. I found it at the beginning of summer."

"So, that book you're always carrying has actually been another journal this whole time that you've just put a book cover over to make it look like some stupid supernatural self-help book." Dipper reiterated. She nodded silently and awaited his reaction. "That's brilliant."

"I'm sorry." Abbey apologized, despite the fact he wasn't furious at her. It was the secret Bill had been talking about. Her secret. "I've been lying to you."

"Don't be, I was keeping mine a secret too," Dipper added, with a semi sort of half smile. He removed his journal from his inner vest pocket, feeling stupid for having blamed her considering it was there all along. He handed his to her and let her quickly flip through the pages. Then, Dipper realized that he voluntarily just handed her the most powerful weapon he had. He could trust her! "It's most of the reason I haven't been able to fully trust you. However, now that I know you can be trusted with the journal secrets, this changes everything. We have to join forces!"

"Really?" she smiled, sounding relieved. She glanced down for a moment and Bill gave her a thumbs up with what was probably a wink. _'Ask about the other journals.'_ he whispered.

"So, if you have three and I have four, do you know where one and two are?"

"I've never been sure about one, however, two was with…" Dipper retraced his thoughts, until he realized who the holder of the second journal was. "Gideon…"

"The child psychic? Isn't he in jail because of you guys?"

"Yeah, this one's kind of on me. I'll go handle it."

"I should go to, help facilitate. Let's be honest, he probably isn't going to want to talk to you after you sent him to prison." Abbey replied, bluntly.

"Fair point." Dipper added. After distracting Mabel with a cuteness overload, the two set out for Gravity Fall's Maximum Security Prison. Which, despite the name, was easier to get into then it sounded. They just walked in, claiming to be cousins of Gideon (just to be on the safe side), and they were going to go get him from his cell.

"So, you guys have to search all the criminals before you place them in here, right?" Dipper asked, nonchalantly, to the lady at front desk. They were waiting to be called in to the visitor's room, so he was using the time to investigate. If they had it he might not even have to go in to see Gideon. Dipper honestly didn't want to have to, after the crap he'd put the Pines family through.

"Contraband is not allowed. All belongings found on an inmate's person upon arrival are confiscated and returned upon release." the woman replied, simply

"Well, you see, a journal was stolen from me by Gideon Gleeful and I believe it was on his person when he was arrested." Dipper lied.

"Let me check the records…" She wheeled her chair to a drawer, pulled out a file and began to read, "No journal was found on Gideon Gleeful upon entry. Just a lot of hair products."

Just then, they were given the okay to go in. Dipper and Abbey were led through a flickering florescent hallway, only slightly nervous. Meeting with a real convict was one thing, but this was ten year old who was about the same size as Gordie. Dipper wasn't worried about Gideon trying to strangle him from across the table or anything like that. His arms couldn't even reach. They were led into a room and there sat an orange jumpsuit clad Gideon Gleeful. Arms crossed, feet on the table, looking very pleased about what the guard had brought him.

"My, my, if it isn't Dipper Pines. You're looking well," Gideon smiled, as if he wasn't thinking about killing him in his mind. He always made it sound like they were on good terms, until he went into one of his sudden rages. He seriously was in need of anger management, "And who is this sweet country peach beside you? I thought you'd bring my dear, Mabel, if you'd ever stopped by to pay me a visit."

"After all those creepy letters you've been sending, I don't think so," Dipper replied, sounding all business. He and Abbey sat into the appointed chairs and got to the point immediately. "Listen Gideon, I've come to learn what you know about the journals."

A taut and evil smile replaced the fake humble one in seconds, as Dipper's inquiry had once again revealed the real Gideon Gleeful.

"I was wondering when you were going to come around asking about the journals," Gideon added, putting his feet down to face them properly. "First, why don't you share what you already know."

"Only if you promise to tell us everything you know too."

"Deal."

"To my knowledge, there was once a researcher who devoted his life to finding all the secrets in Gravity Falls and enclosed all his findings into three journals. He hid them all around town and just vanished." Dipper explained, making it appoint to leave the newly discovered journal out.

"Done already?" Gideon inquired, with a smug air. Even though he was a head shorter than the both of them, he was looking down at them. "That is the general story, yes. However, my quest to hold all the journals had nothing to do with the author who wrote them. He doesn't matter anymore."

"He doesn't? Why not?" Dipper questioned. He had always thought that was the most important question there was. It was the center of all his researching and investigating. Who wrote the journals? Could that question really not matter?

"Boy, haven't you ever wondered about the power all three hold together? Separate they are strong, but together they hold the key to unlocking powers far beyond your comprehension."

"So where did you get your journal?"

"I found it in the woods by my tent on accident. Some sort of secret hiding spot."

"Did you ever find the first?" Abbey inquired, curiously.

"I believed it to be hidden somewhere in the Mystery Shack," Gideon replied. Dipper tried not to gasp and ask all the questions that were popping up in his head. He hadn't been trying to just steal the Mystery Shack to torment his family. "That was part of the reason why I hired Bill to steal the code to the safe with the deed and take it. I needed that book!"

Abbey glared down at her shoulder. There probably wasn't another Bill in this town with enough insanity to do something like that.

"_What? It was just a job."_

"So, where is your journal now?"

"It fell out of my jacket upon my arrest. I assumed you had picked it up, finally complete your set," Gideon answered, with the same wicked smile. "Obviously someone's been a lot smarter than you Dipper Pines."

"Thank you. I think we have everything we need." Dipper added, simply, getting up to leave. Abbey turned to follow, until Gideon reached all the way across the table to grab her wrist as she got up.

"A word of advice, girl. If you're thinking about getting into this. Don't. Get back on the bus home while you still can," he threatened. She yanked to let go and was about to call a guard until he added, "Wait, just one more thing."

"What?" Abbey inquired, slightly frightened, slightly angry. He just told her to abandon her summer and go back home. What more could he possibly have to say if she was just supposed to give up?

"I think you have something on your shoulder. You might want to brush it off..."


	4. The Kids Are Not Alright

Chapter 4

The Kids are Not Alright

"The guy's head was just like, KAPLOW! And that's how we got covered what is probably blood and guts."

Abbey and Dipper were currently busy explaining their latest supernatural investigation and reason for their odd appearances to Mabel as she sat in for Wendy at the gift shop cashier's desk. Wendy was apparently "sick" and Mabel for once got drafted into running things, instead of Dipper, while Stan was touring the vacationists. Lately, Dipper and Abbey had begun going and investigating the creatures in their journals. Dipper was blatantly disregarding Grunkle Stan's warning to stay away from this and his promise not to, but he didn't care. He felt alive and that was all that mattered.

"Probably?" Mabel inquired, sounding only slightly confused and mostly disgusted.

"Technically, it wasn't even a real guy," Dipper exclaimed, excitedly, waving his arms around as he talked. He was still hyped on the adrenaline and fear. "They were—what exactly were they again?"

"Gargles." Abbey replied, quickly flipping to the page in her journal and holding it open for them both to see.

"Right, Gargles. Point for your journal. That was a good one."

"You'll come with us next time, right?" Abbey inquired, to Mabel. She didn't like splitting her time between the twins, considering they were both of their friends. Even though Mabel was the one who had actually reached out to her, Abbey felt like ever since Dipper found out about her journal he was more trusting of her over Mabel with this stuff. Which was not what she planned when she went as far as making a deal with a magical floating triangle to get his trust. The last thing she wanted to do was break up the Mystery Twins. "Dipper and I were going to plan a daytime trip to see the unicorns when they don't turn evil and try to kill us."

"Oh, I'll be there." Mabel replied, immediately. Dipper gave Abbey an appreciative smile for the attempts to include his sister in this stuff again. He must've been worried about her too.

"Letter for Dipper and Mabel Pines." the mailman called, suddenly, from outside the screen door. Mabel suddenly sprang into action and made a rush to go get it.

"I'm Dipper and Mabel Pines!" she yelled, waving her arm in the air. He gave it to her and rushed back down the road as quickly as possible. The mailman never did like delivering things to the Mystery Shack. Soos was still convinced he was a werewolf and glared at him with a creepy intensity every time he came in. "I bet it's from mom and dad."

She brought it over to Dipper and they started to read,

"_Dear Dipper and Mabel,_

_Upon hearing the news that your great uncle lost the Mystery Shack to a ten year old and did not send you home, we've grown very worried about your summer care in Gravity Falls. We'll be coming up there as soon as we can to check things out for ourselves and see whether we need to take you back to Piedmont for rest of the summer._

_-Mom & Dad"_

"Oh god…"

"Quick, Dipper you need to call them! You're the more responsible sounding one." Mabel remarked, grabbing the shop phone off the counter and shoving it in his face.

"Alright, alright…" He grabbed the phone, dialed the number, took a deep breath and waited. Mabel looked anxious, while Abbey just looked confused as to what was going on.

"Hey mom. How're you?" Dipper started, using his slow, obviously trying to sound like the good child, voice. He nodded at the responses and continued, "Listen, we just got your guy's letter and there's really no need to come down here. Everything is fine. Grunkle Stan got the shack back and were all doing great again."

Dipper's face slowly was forced into a frown as she answered.

"Oh, you guys are already on the train and will be hear in a few hours. Okay, I guess we can talk then." he sighed. He bid her farewell and hung up. Dipper had barely put down the phone when, suddenly, the gift shop door was kicked open. A brunette women in a giant sun hat and shades strutted confidently into the Mystery Shack, followed by a broad man in a green polo, texting on his Blackberry. Her bohemian style floor length sundress and smoldering cheek structure made her seem like some sort of high-class fashion model. However, she was known to Dipper and Mabel as mom. Sheila Pines was a native to this town, strangely.

"_Oh great. Stanley's kid and that devil woman…"_

"Or we can talk now…" Dipper added, staring at his mother suddenly there in the flesh. "You just said a few hours."

"I lied." Mrs. Pines replied, coldly, to her son.

"Mom!" Mabel squealed, running towards her mother.

"Sweetie! How's my little girl?" she smiled, taking off her shades and embracing her daughter.

"Super special awesome." Mabel replied. Her mother released her as she got a look at Dipper without her shades on behind her. The mosquito bites on his arm were apparently the least of her worries.

"Dipper Pines! What one earth are you and that girl covered in? Is that _blood_?"

"Oh this. Well, you see me and my friend Abbey here are testing out her makeup skills for Summerween." Dipper laughed, nervously.

"Nice try, Dipping Sauce. I grew up in this town and Summerween was last month." Mrs. Pine replied, bluntly, K.O-ing her son's weak lie. Grunkle Stan suddenly walked in, loosening his tie a little after just finishing with a packed tour. He got slightly startled to see his entire family were in his gift shop without his knowledge.

"Sheila, Rob, what're you doing here?" Stan inquired, with that fake smile he used to greet tourists. He was probably happy to see them, just surprised that they were here.

"Stanford! Rob and I just came to check on our darling children."

"Like I told you, everyone is fantastic. Now, with that punk Gideon in jail, it's been nothing but smooth sailing."

"We'll see. Since, we made it all the way down here I thought we'd stay a few days—"

The door opened once more, with a smaller and normal jingling of the bell. The woman who entered was a much more humble looking woman, then Mrs. Pines had been. Although, she also had long brunette hair, it was darker and tied back into a loose ponytail. She was wearing a pink t-shirt with light mom jeans and followed by a blonde man in a blue Hawaiian shirt. They would have been mistaken for tourists, if a good majority of the room didn't know exactly who they were. John and Beatrice McCorkle.

"Excuse me, Stanford—"

"Mom! Dad! What're you two doing here?" Abbey inquired.

"Your aunt was concerned about your behavior so she called me and your father to—"

"Beatrice." Mrs. Pined stated, in a harsh tone. She would not go unnoticed after their history.

"Sheila." Mrs. McCorkle answered, in a matching tone of discontent. "What brings you back to Gravity Falls?"

"Just visiting my family…" Mrs. Pines answered, simply. She looked over her shoulder at Abbey, in a new light. "That little juvenile delinquent must be your daughter, then."

"_My_ daughter is not some delinquent. Maybe _your _son is the reason she's covered and blood!" Mr. McCorkle snapped back.

"Don't try to shove the blame on _my_ son." Mr. Pines argued. Chaos broke out. The four were all fighting and yelling at the top of their lungs, while the children and Stan just stood awkwardly off to the side.

"_STOP IT!"_ Abbey, Dipper and Mabel all shouted at once, finally having enough. Dipper stood on the counter to tower above the parents and attempt to look as authoritative as his mother did on a normal basis.

"Cease fighting parents. Can you people act with some civility for five minutes?" Dipper questioned, looking at them all with shame and disappointment at their petty arguing. "Abbey take your parents back to your aunt's house for now and we'll all meet at Under the Sea for dinner at six to celebrate such a wonderful occasion."

Abbey reluctantly followed her parent's out, looking over her shoulder at Dipper as she went. She just had the feeling that when she left, they'd just drive the car to the train station and she wouldn't be coming back. Her summer, the adventures and their friendship. It was all over. He gave her a reassuring smile, telling her everything was going to be okay and she left. Dipper turned on his parents with a glowering frown.

"Mother, care to explain what that was all about?"

"The feud between the McCorkle's and the Pine's family has been running deep for thirty years," Mrs. Pines explained, like what had just happened wasn't all her fault, "To be honest, I don't even remember what we're really fighting about anymore. All I remember that it was started between John's elder sister, Carla, your grandfather, and Stanford. After your grandfather died, Rob's mother passed that feud on. She blames the McCorkles for his death, you know."

"Well, Abbey's our friend, momma. Can't you all forget the past?" Mabel begged.

"Very well," she sighed, grudgingly accepting her daughter's request. "As long as she's not leading you both to wickedness. I feel that there's something off about that girl…"

Meanwhile, the McCorkles had waited till they were home to discuss everything. However, the second they walked through the door and were greeted by the chubby unicorn, Abbey's parents just went off like bombs.

"Hanging around with the Pines family? I thought Carla was kidding," Mrs. McCorkle yelled at her. "Honestly, Abbey, you finally make some friends and it had to be Sheila's kids."

"They're creepy occultists. You saw that weird shack Stanford turned his house into. We're taking you back immediately." Mr. McCorkle shouted.

"Please don't." Abbey begged. She clutched to Mr. Rainbows as if he were going to protect her from leaving. He licked her cheek to comfort her, while she could feel Bill's minuscule hand pat her sympathetically on the shoulder. The Pines twins weren't the only friends she had made so far this summer.

"They're turning you into something wicked. You kept talking to your shoulder practically the whole ride home and what's with that strange mini horse with a mustache?" Mrs. McCorkle reasoned. Mr. Rainbows growled at her and she backed away a little.

"Give them a chance. Their totally normal, I swear."

"We'll see how normal they are at dinner tonight," Mr. McCorkle added, putting an arm around his nerve strung wife. "Until then, take a shower, take your horse thing, and go to your room."

Abbey did as she was told. She washed the blood from her hair, arms and legs and watched it go down the drain like she was in some horror movie, which creeped her out a little, but it made her smile for about a minute. It was gone by the time she was wrapped in her fluffy mint green bathrobe and was headed towards her room.

"What am I going to do Bill?"

She entered the room, towel drying her hair, meanwhile the demon had gone back to his original size and was playing with Mr. Rainbows on the floor of her room. Although, they had had a rough first meeting, Bill was starting to say that he liked him. The feeling probably wasn't entirely mutual considering "playing" was Mr. Rainbows chewing on one of Bill's stick-like arms or legs. Abbey always asked him if it hurt, even though she had a feeling he really couldn't feel the pain. He always replied back, in a terrifyingly happy tone,_ "Of course, but pain is hilarious."_

"I'd consult your journal, if I were you," he replied, simply. She pouted at his not very helpful advice and he obviously noticed she wasn't pleased with his answer. "Trust me, this feud isn't going to be stopped with normal means."

"What do you know about the feud? You knew them all thirty years ago, right?"

"It all started with your aunt, Stanford and his brother, Stanley. They were once a lot like you, Pine Tree and Shooting Star," Bill explained. Abbey eyed him with intrigue. She tried to imagine two younger men who looked like Stan Pines and her aunt going on monster hunts and exploring with the journals. It seemed so impossible. "The author captivated them and he used them as pawns to build something horrifyingly amazing. Carla decided to forget, Stanley was lost, and Stanford strives to get them both back no matter what the cost."

"The author…" Abbey was about to ask him more, but suddenly there was a small tap on her window. Then, another. Someone was throwing pebbles at it. She looked out, to see who it was, and a pebble hit her in the forehead.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry…"

She recognized it as Dipper's voice and ceased forehead rubbing to meet his gaze.

"Dipper! They didn't put you on house arrest?" Abbey exclaimed, sounding very relieved and surprised.

"Not exactly. Mabel and I have been talking them down a lot and they've agreed to try to be civil and try to forget the past," he replied, cupping his hands together so she could hear him better. "How's the situation over here?"

"Well, they say they'll go to dinner, but if everything isn't perfect I'll be on the next train back to Piedmont." she answered, grimly.

"And we'll probably be right there with you," Dipper added, with a half-smile. She tried to smile back, earnestly, but it ended up hollow. Their summer was ending in the middle of July. They'd ride the train, but after that it was unlikely she'd ever see Dipper or Mabel again. She'd be alone like she was before. "I've got to get back. I'll see you at six."

Abbey waved him off as he disappeared into the trees in the abendrot sunlight. She sighed, not noticing Bill had returned to his mini size on her shoulder to overhear her conversation with Dipper. He grabbed her cheek and pointed to her journal resting on her bed. She picked it up and started flipping through the pages, as she began to pace around her room.

"There has to be something I can do to make this evening perfect…"

"_Golden Carp _

_The Golden Carp are a peculiar school solely native in the rivers of Gravity Falls. Similar appearing to the Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) the Golden Carp hide in the rivers almost un-noticed. However, I've discovered that slightly cutting the tailfin reveals them to be prominently golden colored. If consumed it will bring peace and balance to even the bitterest of enemies. Now, if only demons and old girlfriends actually ate…"_

"That's it! Golden Carp," Abbey exclaimed, shutting the book back down on her bed. "C'mon, Cipher. You're helping me go fishing..."

She had just enough time to go and get them, since she used Bill to catch the right fish with his powers rather than cutting a lot of tailfins. Abbey delivered the fish to the restaurant, with a note claiming it was tonight's special, and just barely made it back home to shower again and get re-dressed in the standards of Under the Sea.

Meanwhile, the Pines family were arriving at the ocean-themed restaurant early. Although, Mrs. Pines promised she would be civil this evening, didn't mean that she wouldn't try to prove that her family was superior any chance she got. They were all nearly black-tie formal, even Mabel. Dipper managed to negotiate her out of a sweater and she was wearing a simple pink dress with matching headband. Meanwhile, Mrs. Pines had chosen a black floor length dress that made her look like she should be strutting the red carpet. His father wore a tux with a tie, while Dipper's had a bowtie. He felt like an overdressed show pony, but the happier his mother was, the more likely this night would not end in disaster.

"It's as quant as I remember." Mrs. Pines exclaimed, as they walked in to the restaurant.

"Mom, it's the fanciest restaurant in town." Dipper argued. He looked around at the ocean-themed decorations scattered on the walls and the tables with the fancy spiked glass centerpieces. He knew it was no Piedmont restaurant, but he wouldn't go calling it quant.

"I know…"

"This is actually where your mother and I had our first date." Mr. Pines added, with a soft smile.

"How romantic!" Mabel gushed. However, then Dipper noticed Mabel slightly shutter looking at a seat on the far wall. She was probably remembering her horrible first date with Gideon and forced to imagine what it'd have been like if they had gotten married and had kids too.

"It would be if…"

As if right on cue, the McCorkles entered the restaurant and, judging their appearance, they expected the Pines to try and one-up them. When the three of them entered it was just as much of a spectacle. Mr. McCorkle wore a dashing suit, while Mrs. McCorkle wore a powder blue dress and her hair was up in a tight bun. She looked like an older Wendy Darling. Abbey had settled on a black long sleeve floral dress her wavy hair was a low-side pony that hung over her left shoulder and was tied with a black bow

"Wow, you look all look nice." Dipper exclaimed, as Abbey and her family walked up to them. Although his comment was meant for all of them, he was speaking directly to Abbey.

"Thanks," Abbey smiled, silently hoping her hair wasn't too wet or she didn't still smell like fish. She also had to make sure she didn't flip her hair over and drown Bill. "How did you ever talk Mabel out of wearing a sweater?"

"A lot of bribery."

"I figured."

"Shall we proceed then?" Mrs. Pines inquired, intentionally stepping between her son's conversation with the girl and pulling him away. Abbey took a deep breath and merely followed along. She wasn't about to let Mrs. Pines obvious hatred of her get to her. She had to remain positive if she hoped to keep everyone's summer.

It was all going well so far. Although, the kids mostly had to instigate all the conversation topics. Unless they wanted bad subjects, like the past, to pop up. They talked about things like Mabel's various summer art projects, the progress of Dipper's summer reading list, and Abbey's blog writing about various things and happenings in town. Eventually, the waiter came to take their order,

"What shall it be, madam?"

"I'll have the salmon." Mrs. Pines smiled, politely.

Abbey flinched and mentally face-palmed. She forgot that this restaurant served other things and there was no guarantee they were going to order the special. It turns out that none of the parents found interest in the special, as the orders went around the table. She let out a discouraged sigh, but did not attempt to try and change any of their minds. It wasn't a really big deal. They'd just have keep doing this thing the old fashion way.

There was more chatting as they waited for their food to arrive. Events and news currently going on in their other hometown, Piedmont, more of the kid's summer adventures (minus anything supernatural), Abbey and Mabel's new creature friends. However, as people were getting their food at the other tables, the volume of the room seemed to get louder and it was harder to converse over the angry sounding crowd of restaurant patrons. The air seemed to get tenser, as well, but for once their feuding families were not the cause.

Then, suddenly, pure chaos ensued.

All of a sudden, there were women pulling each other's hair and attempting to claw people's eyes out with their freshly manicured fingers. Men smashing into tables and breaking plates with food still on it over other people's heads. The two families just stared at the utter madness, but made no attempt to get up and leave just yet. Abbey took the distracted moment to secretly remove her journal from her purse and the portable black light she'd borrowed from Dipper. What the hell was going on?

_Beware! If cut improperly, the Golden Apple effect is activated. Discord and mayhem will ensue to all._

Abbey actually face palmed. She should've read the fine print beforehand, "Dipper! We've got to get them all out of here."

"Right. Mom, we've—"

However, Dipper was silenced by the most bizarre thing in this scene of chaos. Sheila Pines, his mother, was laughing. Not a constrained giggle, like she usually did, but full on she would be actually rolling on the floor if she wasn't so nicely dressed. As her son tried to grab her arm and lead her out of the restaurant, she had slapped it away to continue her laughter at the scene. They all looked at her for a moment, like she was insane too, and then Beatrice McCorkle started laugh with her. Before they could even process what was happening, all the parents were laughing like mad men. The kids just looked at them, confused and disturbed, wondering if they need to call the ambulance for their parents rather than the people around them. Then, suddenly, Toby Determined jumped out at them from amongst the chaos with a cinderblock.

"Smile, for the camera."

"Your camera is a cinderblock, Toby!" Mrs. McCorkle laughed, pounding her fists on the table with hysterics.

"After all these years, you were better off as an accountant, Toby!" Mrs. Pines laughed, pointing at Toby's hideous face. "Your dreams are dead."

"You harlot!" Toby shrieked, raising his cinderblock. Mrs. Pines stopped laughing, considering he might be serious this time, what with the hostile air in the room, and the fact that his wife was probably in danger.

"Nobody tries hit my wife with a cinderblock." Mr. Pines yelled, as he punched Toby in the face. The cinderblock fell on top of him and knocked him out, hopefully, while Mr. Pines led his wife through the chaos to the exit. Mr. McCorkle grabbed his daughter and Mrs. McCorkle led the Pines twins towards the exit as well. Suddenly, they were all in the cool night air, running to get as far away as possible. Mr. Pines finally halted the group in the parking lot of Greasy's Diner, figuring it was far enough a distance.

"We were right to leave, Beatrice. This town is insane." Mrs. Pines huffed, putting her hand on Mrs. McCorkle's shoulder for support.

"That's why you started laughing in there?" Mrs. McCorkle questioned, knowing she did not really mean it. Yes, the town was insane, but not in a bad way most of the time. "You miss the small town and the hick craziness, don't you?"

"A lot…"

"I know we've never gotten along, even before we were married into these families, but whatever happened between all of them doesn't have anything to do with us," Mrs. McCorkle stated, suddenly. Sheila Pines was listening to her for once, actually taking in her words, which was why this needed to be said now. Then, Mrs. McCorkle extended her hand, "On behalf of all the McCorkle's, I'd like to put an end to this foolish blood feud."

"I suppose the Pines family accepts," Mrs. Pines answered, immediately taking up the extended hand in her own and shaking. She looked to her husband for agreement, because the feud was technically between their husband's families, and he nodded in agreement. It was time to end such petty fighting. "Besides, my children really seem to like your daughter. When we get back home, we'll probably be seeing each other a lot more from now on."

"I look forward to it." Mrs. McCorkle smiled.

"Now, let's get some dinner pancakes. I didn't get to eat at all…" Mrs. Pines stated, grabbing Mrs. McCorkle's arm and escorting her inside the log shaped building. Grunkle Stan was already inside at a table looking shocked that his family was walking in fancy dress to this dump, but to they were friendly mingling with the people who they believed were the enemy. However, knowing the truth better then them, he pulled up to his nephew and Carla's younger brother with a large grin and joined in their conversation.

Meanwhile, the kids were outside marveling in their victory with plenty of awkward sibling hugs and rad high-fives to go around. Dipper even somehow managed to spin Abbey around with his noodle arms. After they had finished with their own mini celebration, they were all entering the diner when a grating, familiar voice spoke to Abbey,

"We pulled this one off, Babydoll," Bill stated, as she was walking in through the tinkling diner door. Abbey nodded silently, not wanting her parents or Mabel and Dipper to hear her talking to her shoulder yet again, "However, I wouldn't go telling Pine Tree about that mess you caused in there. Considering everything worked out, he doesn't need the details."

"Okay…" she answered. She knew it was not right to lie about such a thing, but she was a little worried. Dipper would think she was an idiot for causing such a disastrous mess. Besides, the incident could easily be blamed on the craziness of the town. Abbey didn't have to necessarily go down for it. Not mentioning it would honestly be for the better.

However, little did she know, all these reasoning's for not telling him were not her own. The demon was making her see things his way, placing his own ideas in her heart and mind. Today, it was something simple, something unimportant.

Tomorrow, who knows?


End file.
